The Hindu : New Delhi News : Danger of parents outliving their children

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 12, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Danger of parents outliving their children

Lakshmi B. Ghosh

NEW DELHI: Sample this. A prominent school tries to do away with sale of cold drinks in its canteen only to realise students were coming loaded with coke cans from home. Another school that tried to promote extra-curricular activities started receiving letters from parents complaining about their children suffering from fatigue and body pain.

As more and more school students across the country come up with complaints of hypertension, cholesterol and depression, schools themselves seem to be facing a rather peculiar problem: how to discipline parents.

"There is clearly a lot to worry about. Almost 96 per cent of obese children who come to us have the problem because of leading a wrong lifestyle. The trouble seems to be more with children Class VI onward as they get their own pocket money and eat from the canteen or outside. While schools have a role to play as many of these children eat junk food from the canteen, parents play a much bigger role as they themselves don't follow the right lifestyle," noted Archana Dayal Arya of the Centre for Child Health at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Highlighting the increasing need for an active lifestyle among school children was "Get Active", a programme for schools launched by Swashrit, a non-government organisation. Inaugurated by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday, the programme is aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle in schools.

The seminar looked at the problems faced by youngsters and the role schools could play in bringing about a change.

While it was agreed that reduced physical activity, increasing focus on television and computers, academic pressure and an imbalanced diet were causing serious disorders and diseases among children, schools on their part maintained that although they were interested in bringing about a change, parents themselves did not seem too interested. "We did try to stop sale of cold drinks in the school, but then children started bringing their own cans. To add to that a lot of parents said why should the school stop children from drinking coke when they have it outside anyway," said Lata Vaidyanathan, Principal of Modern School, Barakhamba Road.

Asked about the role of parents, she admitted: "Schools are responsible no doubt, but a lot rests on the parents too. After all, where does the money to buy all the things come from? The increasing disposable income is clearly one of the reasons. We need to think because if this continues, then parents will outlive their children."

As one of the participating doctors responsible for helping schools decide the menu candidly enough pointed out at the seminar, most institutions may want healthy food, but more importantly they wanted the menu to have "what would sell".

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